Russian Investigative Committee begins work in Crimea, Sevastopol

MOSCOW, March 25. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian Investigative Committee opened its offices in the republic of Crimea and in Sevastopol putting them to work starting today, Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the committee, said on Tuesday.

“From now on, all crimes committed on the territory of Russia’s two new entities will be subjected to norms of the existing Russian criminal legislation,” Markin said.

The official added that all criminal cases in Crimea and Sevastopol would be handled by investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee and in line with the Russian Criminal Code regulations.

The Republic of Crimea, where most residents are Russians, and Sevastopol, a city with a special status, held a referendum on March 16, in which they decided to secede from Ukraine and become part of Russia.

The accession treaty was signed in the Kremlin on March 18 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Crimean State Council (parliament) speaker Vladimir Konstantinov, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov and Sevastopol Mayor Aleksei Chaliy.